Garments in the form of jackets with semi-detachable sleeves are known to the art. U.S. Pat. No. 4,006,495, for example, discloses a jacket in which zippers extend partially around the shoulder seams of each of the sleeves. These zippers, when opened, permit the sleeves to be pulled into the interior of the jacket through the arm holes and tucked into a storage pouch which is provided in the back of the jacket. The wearer then can put his arms through the exposed arm holes and wear the jacket as a vest.
A problem with the prior art jacket described in the preceding paragraph, and as represented by the disclosure of the aforesaid patent, is that the fasteners are placed in areas of maximum stress on the garment. Specifically, the fasteners are placed at the sleeve and shoulder seams of the prior art garments, and the fasteners when opened create a weakness in the garments at a point of maximum wear and tear. Moreover, the fasteners must be affixed to the prior art garments and be operated along arcuate paths defined by the shoulder seams. This configuration of the fasteners creates difficulties in both the manufacture and operation of the prior art garments.
In contradistinction with the prior art, the convertible jacket of the present invention incorporates linear fasteners which are easy to affix to the garment and which are easy to operate. When the garment of the invention is to be converted from a jacket to a vest, the two fasteners are opened and the sleeves are turned inside-out, rather than being merely pulled into the interior of the garment, as is the case in the prior art. This action of turning the sleeves inside-out serves to deploy and distribute the sleeves within the jacket so as to obviate any need for storage pouches. Instead, the inside-out sleeves hang straight down from the shoulders inside the garment on each side of the wearer, thereby minimizing their contribution to added bulk of the garment or discomfort to the wearer.
Accordingly, the important objectives of the present invention are to provide an improved convertible garment which may be worn either as a jacket or a vest, and which exhibits substantial advantages in cost, reliability, durability and simplicity over the prior art convertible garments.